March 02, 2011, 3:47 PM —
REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach
Apple's event on Wednesday first and foremost was about the iPad 2. But it also was about chief executive Steve Jobs, who made a surprise appearance before a live audience in San Francisco despite being out on an indefinite medical leave of absence.
(Also see: Apple reveals iPad 2)
Jobs cited some interesting sales numbers that may have been overlooked in all the excitement about the new iPad and the appearance of Apple's co-founder. Macworld's Marco Tabini, though, made sure he got it all down. In brief:
* Jobs said Apple now has sold more than 100 million iPhones.
* Apple sold 15 million iPads last year, earning the company $9.5 billion in revenue.
* iTunes now has 200 million accounts with credit cards, which Jobs says might be the "largest database of customer accounts in the world," Tabini writes. You've been warned.
* Customers of Apple's iBookstore have downloaded more than 100 million e-books.
Jobs said Apple has 90 percent of the tablet market. That will change this year, when the real competition begins. Still, Apple is likely to remain the tablet computer market leader for the foreseeable future.
Further, Apple is well-positioned in the other markets above, competitive as they are with players like Google and Amazon.com to contend with.
Wall Street responded positively to the iPad launch and event, with Apple shares (NASDAQ: AAPL) up 4.47, or 1.3 percent, to 353.78 in late-afternoon trading. Despite recent concerns about Jobs's health, Apple shares are trading close to the all-time high of 364.90 set on Feb. 16.
Chris Nerney writes about the business side of technology market strategies and trends, legal issues, leadership changes, mergers, venture capital, IPOs and technology stocks. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisNerney.
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